Patricia De Lille vows to take legal action against DA if removed as mayor

Patrica De Lille looks ready to go toe to toe with her own party if they want to force her out. For now, the DA has granted her an extension to explain...

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - DECEMBER 08: Patricia De Lille (Executive Mayor of Cape Town) during the HSBC Cape Town Sevens media conference at Southern Sun Waterfront on December 08, 2016 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images)

While the ANC has been electing a new president and top six, the DA and its long-serving Cape Town mayor are at war with one another. Last week, news broke that the DA had suspended De Lille from party activities and demanded she submits reasons to explain why she shouldn’t resign as mayor. Now, De Lille has promised to fight in court if necessary.

De Lille has been granted an extension to 5 January for submitting her reasons to the DA. DA Federal Executive Chair James Selfe revealed that De Lille’s team requested a one-week extension but the DA thought it would be easier for a council to sit in January.

“Due to the serious nature of the allegations, we believed it was also reasonable to give De Lille’s team a reasonable amount of time to reply.” -Selfe told News24

De Lille has been accused of various “management and governance-related challenges that negatively impact the city’s mandate to govern”. While the charges she faces from the party are still not clear, her decision to close down a special investigations unit have raised eyebrows. Certain upgrades to her home also haven’t helped her case.

The DA made it clear that they wanted De Lille out with their closing paragraph of their statement announcing De Lille must submit reasons.

“We believe that this is the first step towards bringing new management to the City of Cape Town caucus that is stable, functional, and focused on delivering the highest quality of services to all of its residents.”

De Lille herself believes that the DA’s process against her has been unfair. In her own statement, she revealed that she will not be scared to head to the courts.

“The DA has shared [its] reasons for my suspension. I am of the view that they do not warrant my suspension nor my removal. I have made no secret of the fact that I will consider legal action if the DA decides to remove me from my position as the mayor of Cape Town.”

“I still believe that the DA is the best alternative in the country and we have proved this in the City of Cape Town. I am of the view that the ‘process’ that has been followed has been patently unfair towards me. My legal team will convey this to the FedEx, as they have done repeatedly during the last few months.

“For the moment, I am focused on compiling detailed submissions to FedEx regarding the allegations concerning me raised in the so-called Steenhuisen report. For now, the thrust of my response is to deal with the merits of the allegations in the report as comprehensively as possible in the time afforded to me.

“I remain hopeful that we will be able to dissuade FedEx from taking the drastic step of initiating a motion of no confidence in me. But if we cannot do so, I would naturally have to consider alternatives to defend my reputation of a lifetime of fighting against corruption and addressing inequality in our society,” De Lille said.”